DeSales Celebrates 50 Years of Nursing

DeSales Celebrates 50 Years of Nursing

Each year in May, a giant quilt hangs in the lobby of the Gambet Center to commemorate National Nurses Week.

Laura Baylor '99, M'01, D'13, DNP, director of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program, first created the center framework of the quilt and then asked fellow nursing faculty and staff to provide the surrounding sections.

The decorated display is situated next to uniforms of years past and antique equipment-all steadfast symbols of the dedication, strength, and resilience of nurses.

Nearby, a poster pays tribute to Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing and a name synonymous with care and compassion. The poster explains Nightingale's calling "to do God's work," and lists responses from DeSales students and faculty who were asked to describe their path to the profession.

"Nurses inspired me when I lived in refugee camps," said one entry. Others read: "I am becoming a nurse to be a positive light in the lives of those who need it," and "The ability to care for people in a unique way."

This year, Nurses Week had even more meaning on campus as the nursing program celebrates its 50th anniversary and the Master of Science in Nursing program marks its 40th anniversary.

"The mission of our nursing program has always fit with the mission of this University. We teach our students to look at our patients in a holistic way, not strictly on the illness itself. Our clinical partners and community stakeholders continually tell us that DeSales nursing students are a cut above."

Mary Elizabeth Doyle-Tadduni '81, Ph.D., head of the nursing program

How it all started

The year was 1974. Allentown College was still gaining a foothold in higher education in the Lehigh Valley, and administrators were looking for new initiatives for growth and development.

At the same time, Sacred Heart Hospital, which had sent its nursing students to the College to take science, psychology, and English courses, was looking for a partner to take over its diploma nursing program. But not just anyone would do.

The hospital wanted to ensure that this new program would train nurses in the Catholic tradition. It encouraged the College to establish a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

Knowing that such a program was particularly well-suited to its mission, the College recruited Caroline Hollshwandner, Ph.D., a well-known nursing educator, as founder and chair of the nursing department.

Hollshwandner had served as assistant director of the nursing program at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia and taught anatomy and physiology to the school's medical students.

"She was highly intelligent," says Doyle-Tadduni, a student of Hollshwandner's. "She really wanted to see the students flourish and grow to be exceptional nurses. She instilled that you have to work hard as a nursing student, not only to get the grades but to become a better nurse."

By the 1980s, the College looked to build upon the success and strength of its undergraduate programs, particularly nursing. Hollshwandner was known for her forward-looking vision for the field, and she knew how important it was to have better-educated nurses.

At the time, the closest Master of Science in Nursing programs were in Philadelphia. Hollshwandner viewed an MSN program as a significant "step toward enhancing the profession of nursing in the Lehigh Valley area."

Under her leadership, the College launched the MSN in 1984 with 16 students from the Lehigh Valley, Tamaqua, and Reading. It was the first MSN program in the Lehigh Valley and the College's first graduate program.

Carol Gullo Mest, Ph.D., chair of graduate nursing programs, says master's degrees opened doors for nurses who, like herself, wanted more career options.

"Back then, many nurses worked in hospitals, healthcare agencies, or skilled facilities," Gullo Mest says. "They didn't have the opportunity to practice outside those walls. Today, when we get first-year students coming in, almost 90% of them want to get an advanced degree. It's this roller coaster of students coming in, finishing their undergraduate degree, working, and then coming back for their advanced degree."

Meeting the Need

The nursing program has grown exponentially since its founding 50 years ago. Today, undergraduate students have three ways to earn their degree: the traditional day program, the evening/weekend adult student program, and the accelerated, or second degree, program.

On the master's level, DeSales offers three separate nurse practitioner tracks, a clinical nurse specialist track, a forensic nursing track with certification in investigative forensics, as well as dual degree programs and a number of certificate options.

Gullo Mest, the architect behind many of the graduate nursing programs including the FNP and the MSN/MBA, began work on a Doctor of Nursing Practice program in 2009 and launched it two years later.

Students in the DNP program can choose from full-time or part-time options with concentrations in clinical or executive leadership.Undergraduates also have the ability to go straight from the BSN program to the DNP program with four track options that can be completed in under four years.

Looking ahead, the nursing program is working with St. Luke's University Health Network on a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist program, which is likely to launch in late 2025.

"We meet our students at all levels," says Doyle-Tadduni. "The number of tracks we have cater to the needs of different populations who want to be nurses with many specialties to choose from."

Salesian Spirit Carried On

DeSales honored Caroline Hollshwandner for her countless contributions with an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree in 1987. She was the first faculty member to receive an honorary degree from the College. In 1994, she was appointed to the rank of professor emerita.

Hollshwandner passed away in December 2020 at the age of 102 but her legacy lives on. Today, the overwhelming majority of nursing faculty are DeSales graduates.

"They know and understand the mission of the University," says Doyle-Tadduni. "They know all about Christian humanism because they have been a part of it through the years. They pass that on in their teaching and also in the way they mentor students every day."

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